Precious (Gabourey Sibide) gets kicked in the head (metaphorically speaking) by life.

In Harlem, 1987, Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is a 16-year-old African-American girl whose prospects are rather bleak. Betrayed by the public school system she is illiterate and ashamed of it, she is pregnant for the second time and has to wait hand and foot on her tyrant of a mother (Mo’Nique). Of course there must be a way out of this inner-city hell, but it will take facing up to some pretty deep, dark demons. Based on a novel written by the pseudonym Sapphire, this gruelling slice of ghetto life has been cleaning tables at award galas. It’s a well-meaning film, even if gluttons for squalor are likely to have their appetites sated.

PREMIERE 5 MAR.